“Of course, things have gotten harder over the years,” Michael J. Fox said of living with Parkinson’s disease, in an exclusive interview with People published Sept. 9, 2026 — the same day the 65-year-old actor was named the 2026 recipient of the Lasker~Bloomberg Public Service Award.
The admission was brief, and he moved past it quickly. “I’m privileged to commit my time and energy to bringing everything I’ve got to help cure this disease,” he added.
Parkinson’s is a disorder of the nervous system that affects movement and gets worse over time, and it affects people in different ways, according to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Over the years, Fox’s symptoms have included tremors, rigidity and difficulty speaking. He was diagnosed in 1991, at age 29, and he disclosed the diagnosis publicly in 1998. A doctor told him at the time of the diagnosis that he had about a decade of acting left.
An Award Sometimes Called America’s Nobel
The Lasker Foundation’s citation credited Fox with dispelling the stigma of the disease and spearheading a revolution in Parkinson’s research. “Receiving a Lasker is humbling,” Fox said, adding that he shares the honor with the scientists, policymakers, patients and families working alongside him.
The foundation has awarded more than 400 prizes since 1945, and each category carries an honorarium of $250,000. Past recipients of the public service award include Bill and Melinda Gates and the late Christopher Reeve. The 2026 prizes were to be presented at a gala in New York City on Sept. 17.
Fox co-founded The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) in 2000 with Debi Brooks, now its chief executive. The organization has funded more than $3 billion in Parkinson’s research worldwide, some of it in partnership with the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s initiative, which is supported by the Sergey Brin Family Foundation. MJFF says the research ecosystem it has backed contributed to 23 new drug approvals over the past decade, with 175 more currently in clinical testing. Fox testified before Congress in 1999 urging greater federal investment, and his foundation later mobilized advocates behind the National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act, which became law in July 2024.
Back on Set, as Himself
Fox stepped away from full-time acting in 2000, after leaving “Spin City,” and by 2020 he said memorizing lines had become a new obstacle. Apple TV’s “Shrinking” gave him a way back. He guest-starred in the third season as Gerry, a man living with Parkinson’s, opposite Harrison Ford, whose character, Paul Rhoades, also has the disease. Fox told People the part let him show up on set as himself, and he called the experience insanely fun.
The series, co-created by Bill Lawrence, Brett Goldstein and Jason Segel, released its third season from Jan. 28 through April 8 and has been renewed for a fourth. Fox earned a 2026 Emmy nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for the role; the award went to Rob Reiner for “The Bear.”
A Humanitarian Honor and a New Campaign
On Sept. 14, Fox accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 78th Emmy Awards. He told the room he had initially kept his diagnosis secret, fearing what it would do to his work, and thanked audiences for standing by him. He said his foundation is close to a cure.
Federal health authorities continue to state that Parkinson’s has no cure and that available treatments manage symptoms. Fox offered People no timetable, saying researchers cannot pinpoint when one might arrive, and he told the magazine that living with the disease gave him a direct understanding of the urgency patients and families feel. He also said he began speaking publicly because his name could draw attention to the cause.
Fox told People the foundation was preparing a campaign to raise another $2.5 billion. On Sept. 17, MJFF launched that effort, called “All Grit. No Quit.,” with more than $1.75 billion already raised. Its community has grown to an audience of nearly four million people, including 1.2 million donors. Randy Schekman, the Nobel and Lasker laureate who nominated Fox, wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that “Fox’s commitment and integrity have altered the landscape of inquiry into the clinical and basic science of PD.”
